Striking fisheries students start relay hunger strike, get support from AAP, BJP

BJP is the alliance partner of the SAD, the BJP leaders went to meet the students while SAD leaders stayed away.

AAP leader H S Phoolka with the protesting students in the morning; BJP district president Parveen Bansal talks to them in the evening in Ludhiana on Friday. (Express Photo: Gurmeet Singh)

The ongoing strike by fisheries students of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) on Friday took a political turn even as four students sat on a relay hunger strike. In the morning AAP leader H S Phoolka met the students to extend his support to them and in the evening BJP district president Parveen Bansal also supported their agitation.

Though the BJP is the alliance partner of the SAD, the BJP leaders went to meet the students while SAD leaders stayed away.

Phoolka said that diversification of crops was one of the main policies of the Punjab government to ensure sustainable and regular source of income for farmers. Development of the fisheries was one such sector. But no concrete steps were being taken by the state government.

According to sources, 51 posts are lying vacant in the Department of Fisheries at various levels. Qualified fisheries expert (BFSc) from GADVASU have been sitting on a dharna for the last five days, demanding that these posts should be filled up.
The Aam Aadmi Party wants that the government should develop the fisheries and fill up the vacant posts immediately. This would not only generate employment for the students but would also ensure sustainable and regular source of income for the farmer, added Phoolka.

Bansal was also equally concerned about the striking students as he said that the strike for seeking jobs was a cause for concern. He assured all possible help to the students to find an amicable solution to their genuine demands. The BJP district president also accepted a memorandum of the students and stated that he would soon get them heard before Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.